The present invention relates in general to IV administration sets, and, more particularly, to a backflow check valve for use in IV administration sets.
There are several devices presently available which concern IV administration sets. An example of such devices is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,937.
However, these known devices usually include a check valve which is expensive and not entirely reliable. These problems arise due to the complex nature of any backflow preventing element used in the check valve. Such backflow preventing elements used in the prior art often include legs, spacers, or the like located on the surfaces of the backflow preventing element. Because of these extra elements on the backflow preventing element, exotic manufacturing techniques are often required, thereby increasing the overall cost of the check valve, while reducing the overall reliability of that check valve.